


Beauty and The Beast: Rhack Edition

by rhysiethecompanyman



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Trans Male Character, Transphobia, vasquez is the worst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-31
Updated: 2018-10-31
Packaged: 2019-08-11 07:34:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16471412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rhysiethecompanyman/pseuds/rhysiethecompanyman
Summary: this is a Beauty and The Beast rhys/jack au because i cant help myself and i just love them so muchalso featuring trans rhys!!!





	1. Opening

**Author's Note:**

> this is an extremely short opening but hopefully it’s interesting enough!

Once upon a time, there was a king. He lived in a castle, alone save for the servants that tended to his every whim. The king was vain and selfish. Nothing truly mattered to him, nothing but himself.

One night, late in December, a feeble woman approached the king's castle. She offered him a rose, in exchange for a night of shelter from the cruel winds and unforgiving snow. An enchanted rose, so she had said. The king, repulsed by her appearance, laughed at the woman and her offering sending her away; back into the bitter cold. Though she warned him to not be deceived by appearances, for true beauty could only be found within. When he declined her again and made to shut her out of his castle, before his eyes the old woman transformed, revealing herself as a beautiful enchantress. The king, floored by her beauty, began to ask her forgiveness, but it was too late. She had seen the wickedness in his heart, and placed a curse on him, his castle, and all those within.

The rose the woman had offered the king truly had been enchanted, now connected to his very essence of life; forcing him to live as a monster for the next ten years that it would bloom. The king, ashamed of his horrid appearance, locked himself away. He fell into sorrow and his castle too fell into disrepair around him, a magic mirror his only connection to the world outside.

To break the curse, the king must find love in his heart for another, pure and true, and they must love him in return, before the rose's last petal fell. But as the years passed, and the rose began to wilt, the king knew it was hopeless.

For who could ever learn to love a beast?


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heres where our story really begins!!
> 
> BIG big warning here for heavy transphobia in this chapter. rhys’ little town is Extremely shitty

Rhys couldn't seem to keep his hands away from his hair, any strands pushed away from his forehead and ears. It was so... Short! And oh how he adored it. It was Vaughn who had helped him, and he couldn't have been more thankful; it had been so long since he'd looked into a mirror and smiled. Now here he was... the moment of truth. He was going into town, to Yvette's book shop in the marketplace. Rhys fidgeted with the end of his tunic, heart fluttering in his chest in a mix of excitement and nerves. He could do this. He knew he could. He refused to live his life hidden away, ashamed of who he was. A deep breath in, a soft wish of good luck for himself, and Rhys was out the door, basket on his arm as he headed down the cobblestone path.

The closer Rhys came to town, the more eyes he could feel on him. Whispers flitted past his ears; with each passing remark Rhys felt his stomach twist into a knot.

_"Isn't that the girl who befriended that lunatic?"_

_"What_ is _she wearing?"_

_"How shameful."_

_"She's always been an odd one, hasn't she?"_

Discouraging was an understatement, but Rhys sucked in a defiant breath through his nose. He smiled, and kept his chin held high, walking with a determined stride toward Yvette's. Let them stare. This was who Rhys was, whether they liked it or not.

"Good morning, Rhys," Yvette said, smiling at the young man as he came through the doors. "You're looking very handsome this morning!”

Rhys' heart swelled and he lifted the shoulders he hadn't realized had slumped.  _Handsome..._ "Thank you, Yvette."

"What can I do for you?"

"Oh!" Rhys grabbed the book in his basket, offering it to his friend, "I came to return the book I borrowed."

A fond smile from Yvette as her fingers closed around the red binding, "So soon? You go through these shelves faster than I do."

"I know, I love it," Rhys replied, already heading toward the rows upon colorful rows of books on the back wall. "Anything new?"

"Not since yesterday, hun," Yvette said, replacing the book on the shelf, watching Rhys’ fingers glide along the shelves, eyes alight with interest and excitement. This was his favorite place in town, after all.

"Well, that's okay. I'll just borrow... This one," Rhys said, finally settling on taking a worn blue book from the shelf.

Yvette only needed a sideways glance to the cover to roll her eyes and smile, "Haven't you read that a hundred times over?"

Rhys hummed as he came away from the shelves, a nostalgic smile on his face, book held close to his chest, "I know, I know, but I just can’t put it down! It's my favorite: spells, adventure, betrayal, true love-!"

"Rhys, if you love it so much, then just take it."

"Oh, no-! I-...I couldn't, Yvette, that’s-"

A dismissive wave of the hand, was her reply "I insist! It's all yours, I’ve never seen anything make you quite so happy, and you do have a wonderful smile."

Rhys was grinning from ear to ear as he left the shop, calling his repeated thanks back toward Yvette before the door fell shut behind him.

Soon he had the book open and was reading intently as he walked back through town. As he lost himself in the familiar pages he loves so dearly, the judgmental murmurs around him faded into white noise. Rhys loved to read more than anything. When he read, he could leave his little town, if only for a while. Go anywhere, do anything, become anyone, completely forget the world that surrounded him. Sometimes, his books felt more like home than home did.

Unfortunately, one could only forget the world for so long.

Rhys stiffened as he felt an uncomfortably familiar arm curl around his waist. He was pulled back against a broad chest, and a large hand settled onto his hip.

"Good morning, Rhys," the man beside him bellowed.

"...Good morning, Vasquez," Rhys responded, using one hand to push Vasquez off his hip.

"You can call me Hugo, honey, you know that." The tall man eyed Rhys up and down, like a hungry dog seated before a piece of meat. He pretended not to notice, gaze steady on the pages of his storybook.

"You're... Real determined with this whole _'man'_ thing, aren't you?"

Rhys could feel his shoulders seize up and he gripped the hard cover so tightly the knuckles on his flesh hand turned white. At the very least, no one in town knew a name that wasn't Rhys. He could take solace in that, if nothing else. "...Yes, I'm very serious." Rhys moved to walk away, wanting nothing more than to disappear, but his book was plucked right from his fingertips.

"Rhys, Rhys, Rhys, you need to get your head out of the clouds. I mean, just look at you! Your hair, your clothes, it's just not right... You look ridiculous," Vasquez held the book out of Rhys' reach before eventually tossing it over his shoulder. "Come back down to Earth, focus on what's really important," Vasquez leaned in close to Rhys, smug grin on his face as the man before him attempted to gather up his book from the mud. “A little lady like you should be on the arm of a good, strong man. A man who can protect you! Someone who can remind you of your place in life... Like me.”

"Right..." Rhys just managed to snatch the book up from the dirt, holding it close to him almost protectively. “Like you...”

How he hated this. Every day Hugo’s awful, boorish advances only seemed to get worse. He seemed insistent that Rhys was meant to be his... _God_ , he didn’t even want to think of it. He wasn’t sure how much more of this he could take. He wanted to scream at him, hit him, run away but what good would that do? If he behaved so... Horridly to Rhys when he was interested, he didn’t want to think of what he might do should Rhys makw him angry. Besides, he was either too stupid or too stubborn to notice that Rhys would rather be anywhere but by him.

He stood up taller, forcing himself to look Hugo in the eye. "Well, I'm afraid I have to be going. Vaughn needs my help and I really should be getting back to him. Goodbye, Vasquez. It's been... Well. It’s been."

Vasquez was calling out to him, something about Vaughn being crazy, something about Rhys needing to clear his head, but he had stopped listening, making a hasty retreat down the path to the small house he and Vaughn shared.

That was apparently... Smoking.


End file.
